Page 39 of Assistant to the Mafia

Eleonora squeezed his hand as they climbed the steps. “You’re right,” she said quietly. “You are having a day. I’m sorry I hit you.” She pulled him to a stop just inside the hall. “I’ll take Lucia over to Dante’s, maybe we can have some bonding time with Iris, and Felicity if she’s available. We’ll be perfectly safe. That way you can focus on the other thing you have to do.” She smiled, her eyes watery. “I like Grace. If she makes you happy, I like her even more. But once she’s safe, you need to talk to Lucia.”

His chest hurt again and Romeo squeezed her hand back. “Thanks, Mom.” He tipped his head, and they continued walking as the bell rang out to signal the end of classes.

Expensive private school or not, at the end of the day, it was an elementary school with excitable young children all eager to be anywhere else. In seconds even the back hall echoed with youthful voices prattling about too many things to make any sense of. Laughter and shouting dominated the rest, and by the time they reached the headmistress’s office, multiple small bodies had darted by. It amused Romeo that the tallest of them nearly reached his mother’s shoulders.

Romeo pulled open the office door and guided his mother inside, shutting it again directly behind them.

The office assistant looked up, mouth already open to tell off whoever had walked in, when she realized they weren’t students. She popped to her feet. “Right this way, Mr. De Salvo.” She led him through a side room and up to a door very helpfully labeled with the headmistress’s name, tapped once, and pushed it open.

Lucia sat in a chair off to the side, kicking her feet, looking distinctly uncomfortable. Her eyes lit up when she saw them. “Daddy! Grandma El!” She hopped up and bounded over before the door was even shut again.

Romeo scooped her up in a crushing hug. “Hey, princess,” he whispered into her hair. The pain in his chest eased at knowing at least one of the people he loved, one of the people he wanted so much to protect, was still safe. Still well.

“Thank you for coming, Mr. De Salvo,” Mrs. Sunter said from somewhere deeper into the room.

Lucia burrowed under his chin and whispered, “I don’t know what’s going on, Daddy, but I promise I didn’t do it!”

He smiled. “I know, Lucy.” He kissed her hair and set her gently back on her feet. “Would you mind waiting with Grandma for a minute while Mrs. Sunter and I have a talk?”

Lucia pouted. “Am I in trouble?”

Eleonora nudged her arm. “No, darling. Go grab your backpack and come with me. Daddy just needs to do some daddy things.”

“Okay,” Lucia said with a dramatic sigh. She returned to the bench, lifted her backpack, and faced her headmistress. “Have a good day, Mrs. Sunter.”

The older woman offered a cool smile. “Thank you, Lucia. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

Romeo watched as his mother and his daughter walked back into the outer room, shut the door, and stepped closer to the desk. He kept his voice low to minimize what little eavesdroppers might overhear. “You already have the documentation that proves my custodianship on file. It hasn’t changed. I’m going to take Lucy home, but that woman outside isn’t to have any contact with her. I don’t care how you make her leave.”

Mrs. Sunter frowned. “I would have preferred if you had spoken to her.”

Romeo snorted. “If we could communicate like healthy adults, this wouldn’t be the first time I’d seen her face in seven years.”

“Seven—” Mrs. Sunter’s eyes opened wide for a beat before she regained her composure. “I understand. We’ll remove her from the premises. If she returns tomorrow, or in the future, we’ll let you know immediately.”

Romeo’s phone chimed again. He ignored the headmistress’s disapproving frown and opened the message.

Enrico: She’s repositioned to the back gate. Blocking drive.

He had the strongest urge to instruct the men on scene to just grab her up, broad daylight be damned, and haul her off to one of Dante’s favorite warehouses. He had more than enough muscle on site to get it done. It was so fucking tempting. But the last thing he wanted to do was petrify or permanently scar a bunch of innocent kids in the process.

Romeo tucked his phone away. “She’s moved to the back gate. I’m going to be calling my lawyers to get her served with a restraining order, so any evidence you can offer to prove her behavior will be useful. I’ll have them get in touch.”

Mrs. Sunter sighed and nodded. “We’re happy to cooperate as long as everything is in Lucia’s best interests. I’ll send security out to chase her off, and have copies of today’s external footage delivered to your email by tomorrow.”

“I appreciate it.” Romeo nodded and turned. They would have to stall for a couple of minutes, to give the school’s security team time to work. But he had an idea for that.

Lucia looked up at him expectantly when he joined them in the larger waiting area. “Can we go home now, Daddy?”

Romeo sat on her open side and smoothed his hand down her hair. “Did Grandma not tell you?” He arched a brow.

“I thought it best not to be presumptuous,” Eleonora said as Lucia shook her head.

“All right,” Romeo said, pulling out his phone again. “How about we make a quick call, then?”

Lucia frowned. “Can’t you call from the car? You’re being weird, Daddy.”

Romeo debated for a moment who to call, decided not to bother his brothers directly if he could avoid it, and pulled up his sister-in-law’s number. He moved his phone to his outer ear and bopped Lucia lightly on the nose while it rang.

---